The Leifeng Tower collapsed 95 years ago today.

At 1:40 p.m. on September 25, 1924, the Leifeng Tower in Hangzhou, which was rebuilt in the Ming and Jiajing Dynasties, collapsed at 1:40 p.m., and was painfully supported by brick towers for 400 years. Suddenly, dust flying, sunset mountain smoke gathering, crows flying in disorder. (Fig. 1)
The Leifeng Pagoda has been built for about 1000 years. Qian Lu, the last king of Wu and Yue Kingdom in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, was first built to pray for national peace, but soon the Wu and Yue Kingdom was destroyed.
During the reign of Xuanhe in the Northern Song Dynasty, Leifeng Pagoda was severely damaged by war, and was rebuilt until Ningzong in the Southern Song Dynasty. Since then, Leifeng Pagoda has become one of the famous sights of the West Lake. Li Song’s "West Lake Map" in the collection of Shanghai Museum truly reflects this magnificent scene. (Fig. 2)
During the Ming and Jiajing years, Japanese invaders attacked Hangzhou City and set fire to Leifeng Pagoda, leaving only bricks and stones for the pagoda. Generally, the old photos of Leifeng Pagoda on the Internet were taken around 1910. It is not difficult to see from the ratio of the pagoda to the people in the pictures in Figure 4 that although the structure of the pagoda has been burned down, the pagoda is still magnificent and full of a sense of desolation and disability. Lack of beauty. Map (3-5)
In the early period of Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, Leifeng Pagoda was lack of management and disrepair. Perhaps people were fascinated by The Story of White Snake. Some people often grind powder and dig bricks from the bricks of the pagoda to cure diseases or babies, or even call bricks a panacea for disease-free treatment. More people have big brains, because Leifeng Pagoda suppresses the white lady, so Leifeng Pagoda’s bricks have the function of repelling snakes, and silkworm farmers who suffer from the snake disaster have buckled bricks – not only that, some people find that there are holes in the pagoda bricks, there are volumes hidden in the holes, they gain profits by selling them; so you take one today, and he will take one tomorrow. Blocks… like a building block game, there’s always someone who moves the last brick.
After the collapse of Leifeng Pagoda in 1924, most people did not clap their hands like Lu Xun. People from all walks of life hope to rebuild Leifeng Pagoda and reappear the beautiful scenery of "Leifeng Sunset". But this wish was not officially put on the agenda until 1999, 75 years after the collapse of Leifeng Tower. Over the past 75 years, China has experienced too many ups and downs. Without a stable, peaceful and prosperous country to support it, Leifeng Tower will not be able to rebuild.
It wasn’t until 2001 that the project of rebuilding Leifeng Pagoda began, and the Millennium Palace was discovered under the ruins of the collapsed Leifeng Pagoda. There are also a number of precious cultural relics unearthed in the underground palace, such as the pagoda of Ayu King in pure silver and the statue of Buddha on the base of Jinlong lotus. At that time, I had the honor to participate in the restoration of the cultural relics unearthed in the Palace, which also witnessed the reconstruction of the Millennium Leifeng Pagoda. (Fig. 7-9)